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9/12/2017 |
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MYRTLE BEACH AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE COMMITTED TO JUMP-STARTING TOURISM ECONOMY FOLLOWING IRMA |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2017
Media Contact:
Julie Ellis
Public Relations and Communications Manager
Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce/CVB
O: (843) 916-7235; C (843) 592-9872
Julie.Ellis@VisitMyrtleBeach.com
MYRTLE BEACH AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE COMMITTED TO JUMP-STARTING TOURISM ECONOMY FOLLOWING IRMA
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Although residents and businesses on the Grand Strand and surrounding areas are breathing a collective sigh of relief that tropical storm Irma did only minimal damage to our region, it is clear that many of our businesses have suffered significant economic disruption due to the uncertainty of the predictions regarding Irma.
The staff at the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce spent many hours preparing for the hurricane, assisting visitors both in and out-of-market with information and updates, and updating businesses on storm information and preparation. Our group sales team was busy assisting and rebooking groups who were going to be in-market during the forecasted storm. Our emergency response team developed a plan to set up remote operations for our call center, business services, and marketing and communications.
Thankfully, none of those plans had to be put into action, but now we need to unleash our most important plan: restarting the tourism economy.
We started that this past weekend as we collected special offers from our business community to help evacuees. We have been promoting these specials through social and traditional media and on our websites, with good effect.
We are continuing with our 60 More Days of Summer campaign that has been running in more than 40 markets and will be adding remote regional radio broadcasts and increasing use of our Mobile Welcome Center to drum up publicity.
We plan to execute additional promotion from key locations on the Grand Strand via social media, such as increased Facebook Live posts, to reassure travelers we are ready for them to return. We are also working with the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism to amplify our message.
“Our goals for the next several days are focused on two important directives,” said Brad Dean, President and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, “to help those in need and to rev up the local tourism engine. We want to make the Myrtle Beach Area accessible to remaining evacuees, while at the same time focusing efforts on letting tourists know that the Grand Strand is safe and open for business.”
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About the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce
Since 1938 the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has stood as the unified voice of the Grand Strand's business community. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has awarded the MBACC its five-star accreditation, one of only a few chambers in South Carolina to earn this distinction. The MBACC serves Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Little River, Atlantic Beach, Garden City Beach, Loris, Conway, Aynor, Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island. For more information, visit MyrtleBeachAreaChamber.com.
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